July 13, 2008

• The First Day of My Rhinoplasty

  I am now in Baptist Hospital. I arrived here two nights before. After the Variety Show, I rushed to the hospitial with Sandra. When I arrived, the nurses told me that the surgical operation would be scheduled at 7:00 the next morning. And I would be put into general anaethesia. Sandra was a little bit worried. Well, I had no choice. I was the white mouse on the table.

  At around 6:00 or 6:30 next morning, a nurse came to wake me up. I had already lost track of time. I washed my face and put on the robe for surgical operation. Then I lied down on the surgical bed. The nurses pushed me to and fro. The feelings were weird. I could only see the ceiling moving from my bottom of my eyes and over my head. Now I had even lost track of directions. Wherever I was being delivered to was a mystery to me. When the nurses pushed me into the elevator, I could feel the elevator moving. Whether it was up or down, I had no ideas.

  Finally, I was delivered into the surgery room. Gary (my otorhinolaryngologist) told me that I was in his good hands and all I needed to do was to relax. Another doctor, called Doctor Chan, said that he was my anaethetician. He told me to relax and slept for a while. Gary remarked that everything would be alright when I awoke. Then I came into the expected deep sleep.

  When I awoke, I could not breathe with my nose. Gary was at my side. He said everything was fine. The operation was successful. I was then delivered back to my room. I did not know what I looked like. I could only breathe with my mouth. My nostrils were extremely uneasy. When Sandra saw me, she said that I looked like a pig. The weird part was that I could not express myself clearly because I could not use my nostrils to help me make sound.

  I had to wait 6 hours for the anaethesia was over. In the meanwhile, Sandra and the nurses moved around to help me. Being attended was a kind of blessing. But it was also a kind of face-losing experience. I needed to ask for people to help me go to the toilet. Not only should I expose my private part but I also needed to do the most private business in front of everyone. Intaking food was a kind of difficult task to me. I could not chew large pieces of food. Therefore I needed something with soup. I could not take food which was hot. Therefore I had to take them cold. Even so, I still found that the food would flow to the nasal cavitiy and gave me a sense of uneasiness. My mouth and throat were dry because I breathed with my mouth.

  When Gary came to see me, he said that I was recovering very well but I needed to stay in the hospital for 3 more nights to make sure that my recovery would be good. This meant I had to stand for three more days of disgrace. I could not wait for the day I could run in the park under the sunlight.

  • 12:06 am
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